NIA arrests 5th accused in 2017 Lethpora Group Centre attack

New Delhi, Apr 14: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Sunday arrested the fifth accused in connection with an attack on the CRPF group centre at Lethpora village in Pulwama district in December 2017 that killed five personnel, officials said here.

An NIA spokesman said Irshad Ahmad Reshi was picked up from Pulwama in south Kashmir after the interrogation of Nisar Ahmed Tantray and Syed Hilal Andrabi, nabbed earlier by the probe agency.
He alleged that Reshi was an over ground worker of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) group and a close associate of slain militant Noor Mohammad Tantray alias Noor Trali, a little over four-feet tall.
Trali, who was instrumental in reviving the outfit in the Valley, was killed in an encounter with security forces in December 2017.

The spokesman said the attack on CRPF Group Centre at Lethpora was executed under a conspiracy to avenge the death of Trali.

He alleged that Reshi has been found to be a key conspirator who provided logistic support in the form of sheltering and transport for the militants and conducted reconnaissance of the CRPF group centre before the militant attack.

The attack on the CRPF centre was carried out in the intervening night of December 30 and 31 in 2017 by three militants belonging to the JeM.

The militants were identified as Fardeen Ahmad Khandey, Manzoor Baba and a Pakistani, Abdul Shakoor, a resident of the Rawalakot area of Pakistan administered Kashmir.
Five CRPF personnel were killed in the attack. The three militants were also eliminated.

Besides Tantray and Andrabi, the other accused arrested in the case are Fayaz Ahmad Magrey and Manzoor Ahmed Bhat.
Reshi will be produced before the Special NIA court in Jammu on Monday with a request for grant of police custody for further investigation, the spokesman said.

Day 39: Normal life still out of gear in Kashmir; schools remain shut, public transport off roads

Srinagar: Normal life remained affected in Kashmir as the stalemate following the abrogation of Article 370 entered its 39th day on Thursday with schools closed and public transport off the roads, officials said.

Restrictions on the movement or assembly of people have been lifted from most areas of the valley, but security forces continued to be deployed to maintain law and order, the officials said.

They said the authorities were also considering easing out restrictions on mobile communications and restoring voice call services.

While landlines across the valley were functional, voice calls on mobile devices were working only in Kupwara and Handwara police districts of north Kashmir.

However, normal life remained severely affected across the valley due to shutdown which entered 39th day on Thursday, the officials said.

Markets and other business establishments remained closed, while public transport was off the roads across the valley, they added.

Internet services remained suspended across all platforms, the officials said.

The efforts of the state government to open schools have not borne any fruit as parents continued to keep children at home due to apprehensions about their safety.

Most of the top-level and second-rung separatist politicians have been taken into custody while mainstream leaders including three former chief ministers — Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti — have also been either detained or placed under house arrest.

SRINAGAR: National Conference leader and MP Akbar Lone has “appreciated” the role of Pakistan in raking up the Kashmir issue internationally and “putting pressure” on India, even as he said that his party must contest elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

Lone told IANS in an interview that contesting elections has been compulsion in the past though “Kashmiris don’t belong to India”.

“We will have to first understand what powers the new Assembly will have in the event of any elections taking place. As a man from National Conference, whatever the elections, we must contest elections,” he said.

Batting for a united stand by political parties against the abrogation of Article 370, Lone said that all parties must stand together for the restoration of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

“All parties like the Congress, National Conference, PDP and other small and big groups must join hands to carry out agitation against India for the return of the special status of the state,” Lone added.

Lone said the clampdown in Kashmir is stopping people from showing their resentment against the scrapping of the special status.

“It is military rule in Kashmir. Every nook and corner of the state is guarded by the Army, by paramilitary forces, people are not allowed to come out, if they would have been allowed to come out, they would have showed their resentment,” Lone said.

He said that he “appreciated” the role of Pakistan and other countries in raking the Kashmir issue internationally and “putting pressure” on India.

“It is a good thing that Pakistan or China or US any other country rakes up the Kashmir issue internationally and supports the cause, they have exposed India, otherwise India would have taken the move as a success without caring about who is who,” he said.

Lone demanded the release of former Chief Ministers Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah and said the party leadership must be allowed to meet these senior leaders to decide the future course of action.

“We must be allowed to see our leaders and they must be released, we will sit down along with other parties to chalk out a joint course of action,” Lone said.

Guv interacts with SMC councillors

SRINAGAR, SEPTEMBER 11: Governor Satya Pal Malik met the Councillors of Srinagar Municipal Corporation over tea, at Raj Bhawan Auditorium, Srinagar. The Councillors of the SMC were specially invited to Raj Bhawan for an interaction with Governor.

Councillors informed Governor about problems being faced by them due to non-availability of communication/internet and also requested for suitable accommodation for them in the city. They also mentioned that the funds are yet to be made available to them in order to reach out to the people and fulfill the mandate given to them.

It was informed to the Councillors that during the current financial year, out of earmarked Grant-in-Aid, about Rs. 100.00 crores will be released shortly. Similarly, out of Rs. 500.00 crores to be made available to SMC under the 14th Finance Commission Award, Rs. 86.00 crores has already been made available to the SMC. In addition, 5000 Street Lights is being provided in the city through various Councillors and after agreement, the EESL Corporation of Government of India will start the task of 100% Street Lights of Srinagar city for a period of 7 years. EESL will start the work once the situation will improve in the valley.

Governor announced an additional grant of Rs. 18.50 crores @ Rs. 25.00 lacs per ward to the SMC for developmental works. These works will be executed after the identification by the concerned Councillors.

Governor announced purchase and installation of 7,400 street lights for the Srinagar Municipal Corporation @100 per ward besides transfer of Street Light Division of Srinagar city from the Power Development Department to the Srinagar Municipal Corporation.

On the issue regarding Indian House Hold Latrines (IHHL), Governor assured that the verification of all the cases, which were pending, will be completed by 30th of September.

Regarding communication problems, Governor informed that 15 internet terminals have been made operational in office of the Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, for usage by all the departments including the Srinagar Municipal Corporation. He also assured that mobile connectivity will also be restored very soon in J&K.

Governor observed that a delegation of Councillors will be sent outside J&K to study working of the Municipalities in other parts of the country. He advised the them to work devotedly for ensuring development of their Wards and providing uninterrupted basic facilities to people.

Governor noted that Raj Bhavan is open for public and every grievance reaching his office is addressed immediately. Besides, he said, his Advisors are regularly hearing and addressing public’s grievances.

Governor urged the Councillors to work towards making J&K peaceful, progressive and prosperous.

Archives

Hi! 👋 We use cookies🍪 on this website to help operate our site and for analytics and advertising purposes. For more on how we use cookies and your cookie choices, go here! By continuing to use our services, you are giving us your consent to use cookies.